Poor Town: Rockford senior calls jar of pennies her 'life savings'

Sunday

May 19, 2013 at 12:01 AMMay 19, 2013 at 6:11 PM

Beverly Plock turns 65 next month and gets disability payments for a litany of health problems, including double bypass heart surgery, an abdominal aneurysm and post-traumatic stress syndrome, the result of being abused as a child. She lives each month on $819 in disability payments and $183 in Social Security from her ex-husband.

Brian Leaf

She calls the decor “early American mix-up.” Beverly Plock is unapologetic about furnishing her apartment with gifted items and others from garage sales and thrift stores.

It is better than living in her car. Plock has done that, too.

Plock turns 65 next month and gets disability payments for a litany of health problems, including double bypass heart surgery, an abdominal aneurysm and post-traumatic stress syndrome, the result of being abused as a child. She lives each month on $819 in disability payments and $183 in Social Security from her ex-husband.

Monthly, she pays $400 in rent, $220 on a 2006 Scion she won’t give up because it’s a place to live if times get really tough, and $87 for car insurance. The remaining $300 covers utilities, medicine and household expenses.

She also knows what programs she’s eligible for — such as help with utilities through LIHEAP, food stamps, and Medicare and Medicaid.

“There was a period of time I wouldn’t reach out for help,” she said.

And that’s not unusual for older people, who don’t get benefits they’re eligible for, said Ramsey Alwin, senior director of economic security at the National Council of Aging in Washington, D.C.

“The typical older adult leaves $7,000 in benefits on the table,” said Alwin. “They don’t know the benefits they’re eligible for, or are too proud to consider those resources.”

ACOA has a website, benefitscheckup.org, that can help seniors find programs to help pay for medications, health care, food, utilities and more.

Plock, who raised four children and calls the jar of pennies on the floor of her apartment her “life savings,” said she worked in Wisconsin for the public defender’s office and wanted to start law school when she got sick.

That was in 1986, months after she said she graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in psychology from Trinity College in Deerfield.

“I still thought I’d be making a decent living for a long period of time,” she said.

Plock said she likes to volunteer. Last week she was in training to become a Winnebago County Court Appointed Special Advocate, to help children involved in the court system.

As for her situation, she’s accepted that she faces a lean future.

“It’s a horrible thing to admit to when you have pride,” said Plock, during an interview in her frugally eclectic living room near Rockford East High School. “But I had to let go of that.